An oath is a قسم (qasam) used to encourage or discourage an action, or to confirm a statement or action. A vow, on the other hand, is an obligation a person places upon themselves to perform an act of obedience to Allah or a right that was not previously obligatory.
Yes, an oath can be broken. If someone swears an oath and then finds a better alternative, they can be absolved from their oath by performing an expiation (kaffarah), which then nullifies the oath.
If someone is unable to fulfill a vow of obedience, and there is a legal substitute, they should transition to that substitute (e.g., feeding the poor if unable to fast). If there is no substitute or they are also unable to perform the substitute, they should perform an expiation for an oath (kaffarat yamin), which then nullifies the vow.
Transcribe recordings, audio files, and YouTube videos — with AI summaries, speaker detection, and unlimited transcriptions.
Or transcribe another YouTube video here →